By Joey Gelman
The 2024 Chicago Public League Flag Football Championship was one to remember, with Lane Stadium’s East Side stands holding over 1,000 passionately cheering fans as Lane Tech, the 2023 city and state champions and Taft, the 2022 city champions, competed for this year’s title.
While Lane was the defending champion, it was Taft that jumped to a quick 14-0 lead early and never looked back thanks to the play by its program’s foundational seniors, winning 28-6.
“[The Game Plan] was to dominate offensively,” said Taft coach Germaine Padilla. “We just spread the love to whoever has to step up that day and they just step up.”
In postgame interviews, Padilla would not let the interviews start without first calling over four of his seniors, Maddie Beazley, Ashley Wilson, Isabella Alfaro and Maylin Nunez, to ensure they got the recognition they deserved, having been key foundational pieces in establishing the team’s culture in its inaugural season in 2021.
“These are some of your first four-year players in the state of Illinois,” said Padilla. “They just keep their poise no matter the situation. They just keep playing. They believe in themselves, they believe in the team and they believe they can get it done.”
“I’m very proud of this team, the core four really held it together today so I’m really proud of us,” said Alfaro. “It’s really amazing considering our first tryout only had six girls come out and seeing that there were only 25 teams in our first year and now there’s over 100 teams, I just love to see that this sport is getting so much recognition from the state. And I really love that we’re an IHSA sport…This year we get a real shot at a (IHSA) title, and I feel like we have a really good shot at winning that as well.”
The championship game featured impressive play design on offense for the Eagles with many players getting their chance at making a big impact.
Wilson scored the game’s first two touchdowns alongside the play of junior standout Lily Sarli at running back leading the offense for Taft. Senior Cassie Aguilar sealed the game with two interceptions, and the Eagles put the game away behind the leadership of experienced signal caller, Nunez, at quarterback.
Nunez has been the starting quarterback at Taft since its first-ever season and has led by example the entire way and could not contain her excitement upon securing the championship.
“It means so much, it’s crazy,” said Nunez. “I love my team, it feels so good to be on this team and to be a leader and get through everything together. I’m so happy that we got to close out our senior year like this.”
“[Nunez] has been like my kid the last four years,” Padilla said while fighting back a few tears. “She has been by my side, she’s my only quarterback the last four years. She runs the show. I don’t think people realize how important Maylin is to this program. She is the coach on the field.”
And while the seniors led the way to the 2024 title, they are continuing to lay down the groundwork for the next group of Taft Eagles.
Taft has four freshmen on varsity including Niya Reyes, who scored a touchdown in the championship game.
“I have so much pride in the program, ” Beazley said. “Watching all the freshmen come in over the summer, especially watching them develop so quickly with all the amazing coaches we have, it just shows how much everybody really cares about this program.”
“My teammates are really helpful and they gave me a lot of support,“ Reyes said. “They’ve shown me a lot, taught me a lot of new things, I got to know them more and on offense, they gave me so much help.”
Taft looks to continue their unforgettable season in the first-ever IHSA state playoffs. The Eagles defeated Amundsen in the first round of the playoffs and secured a regional championship against Loyola and take on New Trier in the Sectional Semi Finals On October 15.
Photos by Ashley Harris/OSA
Photos by Jim Vincent/OSA
